OMV and Borealis: Significant expansion of Burghausen site
OMV and Borealis invest EUR 840 mn in the expansion of their petrochemical production capacities
In November 2006, OMV Aktiengesellschaft first announced their EUR 1.1 bn investment in Bavaria. So far EUR 640 mn have been invested in Burghausen refinery and an additional EUR 200 mn were invested by Borealis in the expansion of their neighbouring plastics production facilities. Since the successful OMV shutdown in 2007, the production and conversion of petrochemical base chemicals into innovative plastics products on the premises of OMV and Borealis have been flawlessly coordinated. OMV has increased the ethylene production by 110.000 t to 450,000 t per year and the propylene production by 315.000 t to 560,000 t. The boost of the polypropylene production by 330.000 t to 570.000 t has increased Borealis’ polyolefin capacities to 745,000 t in total.
OMV achieved these capacity expansions with the construction of the new metathesis plant, the expansion of the ethylene plant as well as the construction of a major cracker furnace. Borealis expanded its polypropylene production by integrating an additional Borstar® polypropylene plant on their premises in Burghausen. Development started in 2006, and the plant started up in spring of 2008 after a major OMV shutdown for the integration of the new components.
According to the company, the ethylene and propylene plants as well as the polypropylene production plant are running smoothly and provide reliably the production output as planned. Following a routine optimisation phase it will now be possible to operate at more than nameplate production capacity in several new plants. Application of innovative technologies
Simultaneously with the OMV petrochemical plant expansion Borealis, which is directly connected with the OMV refinery, expanded its capacities, by 80% from 415,000 to 745,000 t of polyolefin per year. Based on the proprietary Borstar® technology, the plant converts highly pure OMV propylene produced by metathesis into polypropylene, a multi-purpose plastics material.
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